Three days after freshman Blaire Sullivan's breakout performance against Houston, in which he engineered four consecutive touchdown drives for a team that had four touchdowns in the 17 quarters previous, there was no symbolic burning of the depth chart.

He was on the field for the first plays of a brief teamwork session Tuesday, but he was with the second-teamers, and soon enough Nick Lamaison and the starters came on. As for what any of this means, with UTEP beginning a bye week and no game looming for almost two weeks, the coaching staff wasn't putting its cards on the table.

"I'm not telling," coach Mike Price said when asked who the starter will be.

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Bret Bloomquist

He even indicated that a decision hasn't been made yet for the UCF game.

"We've got three, four quarterbacks we feel all can play," quarterbacks coach Aaron Price said. "They can all do their own little thing.

"They are all going to have some playing time, we need to look at Central Florida and see what they can do. I don't think we need to worry about (who will start) yet. We'll look at what we can do to scheme and strategize against Central Florida."

The quarterbacks and other players are smart enough not to go public with opinions on where UTEP goes next. They know that this isn't a democracy and that at 2-7 with no bowl possibilities, a united front is essential to holding what's left of the season together.

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When asked if he had earned more playing time, Sullivan said, "I think so, but I keep reminding myself it was just one game. My performance in a quarter and a half doesn't show much. I'm keeping the same mindset and just have fun with it.

"Anytime you perform well, the coaches look at it."

An obvious point is that as big underdogs in two weeks against Conference USA juggernaut UCF, who is 6-2 overall and undefeated in conference, and with that 2-7 mark, there doesn't seem to be much to lose by giving Sullivan extend ed time.

"There might be that vibe, I don't know what everyone is thinking," Sullivan said. "We don't want to go out 2-10. We all have the mentality to leave it all on the field and have fun."

Sullivan certainly was having fun against Houston, showing a scrambling and running ability that has led Mike Price to compare him to Roger Staubach, and also showing a nice touch on short passes. Sullivan repeatedly took on linebackers and safeties at the end of runs, turning his shoulder into them.

Aaron Price pointed out that entering in the third quarter after taking third-team practice reps all season, against a Cougar team that basically had zero tape to prepare for Sullivan, is a different challenge than what could be next.

"The hardest thing is preparing like a starter, like you're going to play," Aaron Price said. "It's easier when you're thrown in there; you don't have the preparation, the anxiety, about whether you're going to do well. You just play."

Sullivan's stock, though, rose in the eyes of his teammates.

"We knew he had the talent, he had just been waiting for his opportunity to show that talent," said Kevin Perry, who caught a career-long 34-yard pass from Sullivan. "That took a lot of heart to come out like he did, step up and play."

At any rate, the other two active quarterbacks, Carson Meger and Lamaison, weren't doing anything differently Tuesday than they have all year.

"We've got depth at every position," Meger said. "It didn't surprise me at all (how Sullivan played). We kept it simple, he executed and utilized his feet and running ability. The offensive line executed, the receivers executed, Blaire executed, that didn't surprise me at all."

"I'm just trying to do anything to help the team," Lamaison said. "I'm focusing on doing all the little things right, correct little mistakes."

The one certainty in a looming offseason of uncertainty is that the senior Lamaison won't be back next year, meaning Meger, Sullivan and redshirting freshman Garrett Simpson are already in a competition to be the future face of the program.

"The whole year has been like that," said Sullivan, who seemed in third place in that race before Saturday. "These last couple of weeks, the young guys will be in competition."

That's true for both the long term and the short term.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; 546-6359. Follow him on Twitter @bretbloomquist.